Avian Influenza

Chris Mullin: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs if she will compensate those whose livelihoods have been affected by the ban on bird shows; and if she will make a statement.

Ben Bradshaw: I announced on 20 December 2005 that all bird shows are now allowed to go ahead under a general licence, details are available on the DEFRA website at:
	http://www.defra.gov.uk/animalh/diseases/notifiable/disease/ai/poultrykeepers.htm#birdfair
	There are no plans to offer compensation to those who have been affected by this ban.

Bird Imports

Philip Dunne: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs 
	(1)  why her Department has not banned live importation of birds from poultry shows in other European Union countries;
	(2)  whether live birds may be imported from poultry shows in European Union countries; and what risk assessment she has undertaken of the potential importation of Avian influenza from these sources.

Ben Bradshaw: holding answer 20 December 2005
	Live birds may be brought into the United Kingdom from poultry shows within the EU as long as the correct import procedures are followed. Rules on importing poultry are available on the Defra website at: http://www.defra.gov.uk/animalh/int-trde/animl-im/animl-im.htm
	The movement of birds within the EU is controlled by Community rules, which do not require birds to be quarantined. However, the UK's Salmonella controls require all fowl species (for example chicken, ducks and turkeys) arriving in the UK from other member states to be isolated for at least 112 days after arrival.
	Defra carries out qualitative veterinary risk assessments when officially notified of a disease outbreak in an EU-member state, a country on the border of the EU or one of the UK's trading partners worldwide. There are currently no cases of High Pathogenic Avian Influenza in EU member states. Based on veterinary risk assessments, we consider that the risk to birds in the UK is currently low.
	If an EU member state experiences an outbreak of serious disease such as Avian influenza, existing EU trade rules set out the measures that must be adopted by that member state to prevent the spread of the disease. If the situation demands it, the European Commission will propose additional safeguard measures. It is not open to other member states to take unilateral action which goes beyond Community trade rules.

Fisheries

Norman Baker: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs 
	(1)  how many UK fishing vessels of 12 metres of more in length, operating in ICES areas VII e, f, g, h and j and using bottom set gillnet or entangling net will be required from 1 January 2006 to use acoustic deterrent devices under Regulation (EC) No 812/2004 (art.2);
	(2)  what the total (a) length and (b) effort in kilometres per hours is of bottom set gillnet and entangling net used by UK fishing vessels of 12 metres or more in length operating in ICES areas VII e, f, g, h and j.

Ben Bradshaw: There are approximately 20 UK vessels of 12 metres or more in length regularly prosecuting this fishery. Gill nets are used for catching hake all year round and entanglement nets are used for catching monkfish, turbot and rays from March to September, a number of vessels prosecute more than one fishery, including wreck netting.
	We estimate that the 12 regular hake netters deploy some 240k of nets; the 14 regular entanglement netters some 11,200k; and, the 6 wreck netters some 24k. This gives a total for the fishery of 11,464k of nets.
	The data are not available to calculate the effort in kilometres per hour.

Foot and Mouth

George Howarth: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs if she will place in the Library advice received by Ministers regarding the decision in March 2001 to carry out a contiguous cull of farm animals.

Ben Bradshaw: The background to and justification for the contiguous cull is set out in Chapter 10 of the Report "Foot and Mouth 2001: Lessons to be Learnt Inquiry" published on 22 July 2002. I have placed a further copy in the Library.

Integrated Pollution Legislation

David Drew: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs how many court cases have (a) the Environment Agency and (b) her Department taken on breaches of the integrated pollution prevention and control legislation; and what the outcome was in each case where proceedings are complete.

Ben Bradshaw: In 2003 the Environment Agency prosecuted Kvaerner Engineering and Construction UK Limited for a breach of the PPC Regulations.
	In 2004 the Environment Agency prosecuted Sita Southern Limited for a breach of the PPC Regulations.
	In 2005 the following companies were prosecuted by the Environment Agency for breaches of the PPC Regulations: Global Commodities (UK) Limited, HLC Waste Management Services Limited, Istil (UK) PLC, James Cropper PLC, Monckton Coke and Chemical Company Ltd, Robert Wiseman & Sons Limited and Sita Southern Limited.
	A table providing additional information such as the offence, the date of prosecution and the outcome of each prosecution will be deposited in the Library of this House.
	This Department does not itself take prosecutions, but some installations are regulated by local authorities rather than the Environment Agency.
	We publish statistics annually which give the number of prosecutions taken by local authorities, although do not distinguish between those taken under their air pollution powers from those under their integrated pollution prevention and control powers.
	In 2004–05 13 prosecutions were reported. This information is listed in table 12a of the recently published Statistical Survey at this address http://www.defra.gov.uk/environment/airquality/lapc/survey0405/index.htm . The survey reports for both 2002–03 and 2003–04 are also available onthe same website at this address http://www.defra.gov.uk/environment/ppc/index.htm .

Rare Birds

Iain Wright: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what steps she is taking to protect the rare birds population on the North East coast.

Jim Knight: There is a suite of statutory sites protecting bird populations along the North East coast of England which form part of a national, European and international network of protected sites. Those areas designated for their national importance, sites of special scientific interest (SSSIs), underpin and extend beyond the boundaries of six Special Protection Areas (SPAs), classified under the EC Birds Directive. Three of these SPAs are also designated as Ramsar sites under the Convention on Wetlands of International Importance especially as Waterfowl Habitat. These sites are protected for their nationally and internationally important populations of waders, wildfowl, terns and seabirds 1 .
	1 Fame Islands SPA
	Coquet Island SPA
	Flamborough Head and Bempton Cliffs SPA
	Lindisfarne SPA and Ramsar site
	Northumbria Coast SPA and Ramsar site
	Teesmouth and Cleveland Coast SPA and Ramsar site

Recovered Fuel Oil

David Taylor: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what assessment she has made of the status of recovered fuel oil in the definitions of waste recovery contained in the revised Waste Framework Directive.

Ben Bradshaw: On 21 December 2005 the European Commission published a proposal for a Thematic Strategy on the prevention and recycling of waste and associated legislative proposals. The latter includes a revision of the Waste Framework Directive (WFD) (Council Directive 75/442/EEC as amended). The proposals are available on the Commission's website at http://europa.eu.int/comm/environment/waste/strategy.htm
	The draft WFD published by the Commission includes a proposed revision of the definition of "recovery". The purpose of the revised definition is to enable a more effective distinction to be made between waste disposal operations and waste recovery operations—both of which are subject to control under the existing WFD. The revised definition of "recovery" does not affect the status of recovered fuel oil (e.g. its classification as waste).
	The UK has actively participated in the Commission's consultations on the Waste Thematic Strategy and associated consultations; and will continue to be active in negotiations with the Commission and other member states on the revised WFD. In doing so, we will comply with the guidance on "UK handling of EU proposals" available on the Cabinet Office's website at http://www.cabinetoffice.gov.uk/regulation/europe/uk_handling/index.asp—including appropriate consultation with external stakeholders.

Rights of Way

Ashok Kumar: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what steps are being taken to improve public access to waterways.

Jim Knight: Following publication of the report, "Water-Based Sport and Recreation: the facts" in 2001 we commissioned the Countryside Agency to work in partnership with other Government agencies to pilot four demonstration projects to develop best practice for access agreements for canoeists on key stretches of water in England. The feasibility study indicated that voluntary agreements can offer a means of increasing access to water and we asked the Environment Agency to complete agreements in all four pilot areas. In addition we have agreed to the development of a strategic approach to recreational access to water inland waters, led by the Environment Agency but in collaboration with other key stakeholders.

Sustainable Development

Gregory Barker: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what penalties are in place for Government Departments which fail their sustainable development targets, as reviewed by the Sustainable Development Commission on 16 December.

Elliot Morley: These are internal targets that don't involve penalties but are open and transparent. The targets are set out in the Framework for Sustainable Development on the Government Estate. In accordance with that Framework, all Government Departments are responsible for their own performance and data. The Sustainable Development Commission reported on progress for the first time this year, in line with the commitment in the UK Government Sustainable Development Strategy that future reports should be 'wholly independent of Government'.

Middle East

Richard Burden: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs If he will make a statement on the prospects for peace in the middle east.

Jack Straw: Important progress has been made in recent months: the level of violence on both sides has been significantly reduced, and whilst much remains to be done, overall prospects have been transformed by the withdrawal from Gaza and northern settlements in the West Bank, in mid August. The UK and EU have been heavily involved in all this. Elections in the Occupied Territories for the Palestinian Legislative Council are due on 25 January, and a general election is due in Israel on 28 March.
	Mr Speaker, Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon deserves great credit for his courage and foresight in leading many of the recent positive developments. I am sure the whole House will join me in sharing my deep concern about his illness; our thoughts and prayers are with his family and friends and the people of Israel.

Afghanistan

Linda Gilroy: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what further steps his Department is taking to encourage other Governments to give financial support to Afghanistan.

Kim Howells: We routinely lobby countries for financial support for the Government of Afghanistan's counter narcotics programmes. We have also lobbied for Afghanistan election funding on behalf of the UN.
	The UK is playing a leading role in the reconstruction of Afghanistan. We will host a London Conference on Afghanistan on 31 January—1 February, co-chairing with the UN and the Afghan Government. The conference will seek continued international support for Afghanistan.

China

Adam Afriyie: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs if he will make a statement on religious freedom in China.

Ian Pearson: The Government are concerned about limitations on freedom of religious belief in China and the treatment of religious practitioners, including the political "re-education" of monks and nuns in Tibet. We regularly raise our concerns with the Chinese Government. We did so at the last UK-China Human Rights Dialogue in June 2005. Freedom of religion was a focus of the last EU-China Human Rights Dialogue, which took place under the UK presidency in October 2005. I spoke at length about the persecution of Christians in China during an adjournment debate on 5 July 2005. The EU Troika raised freedom of religion with the Chinese Government in Beijing on 29 December. Individual cases of concern were raised at this meeting and at the Dialogues. We will continue to raise our concerns about religious freedom with the Chinese authorities at every appropriate opportunity.

China

Andrew MacKinlay: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what action has been taken under the UK's EU presidency to advance the European Parliament's resolution of 8 September on religious freedom in China, with particular reference to the calls for the release of Pastor Zhang; and if he will make a statement.

Ian Pearson: The Government remains concerned about freedom of religion in China. Progress was made in advancing the European Parliament's resolution on this matter in a number of respects during the UK presidency. Freedom of religion was a focus of the EU-China Human Rights Dialogue in October 2005. The UK presidency led a follow-up EU demarche in Beijing in December 2005. Several individual cases were raised at the Dialogue and in the demarche, including that of Pastor Zhang, whose case we continue to follow closely. An EU-China seminar on the ratification of the International Covenant for Civil and Political Rights was held in December 2005; and the UN Special Rapporteur on Torture visited China in November 2005. We will continue to raise religious freedom with the Chinese Government, and urge further progress on points raised in the resolution.

China

David Jones: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what representations he has made to the Government of the People's Republic of China over the jailing of Xu Wanping.

Ian Pearson: We monitor closely the treatment of human rights defenders in China and regularly raise individual human rights cases with the Chinese Government, including at the biannual UK—and EU-China Human Rights Dialogues. The Government have not made representations to the Chinese Government over the recent imprisonment of Xu Wanping, but we will look into his case.

Common Agricultural Policy

Adam Afriyie: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what proposals for Common Agricultural Policy reform the Government has made; and if he will make a statement.

Douglas Alexander: EU Heads of State and Government agreed in December a proposal from the UK presidency for the Union's budget over 2007–13, including the Common Agricultural Policy (CAP). That proposal included a provision allowing member states to transfer up to 20 per cent. of their funding for CAP market support and direct payments to rural development. This Government have always supported moving funds in this direction, and will continue to do so. The agreement in December also contained a commitment to review all EU expenditure, including the CAP, in 2008–09. On 2 December, the Government published a paper setting out the UK's vision for reform of the CAP, which we hope will inform that debate. This is available at http://www.hm-treasury.gov/uk/media/E76/04/a_Vision_for_the_CAP.pdf. The Government is in on-going discussions with other member states and other stakeholders about their views on that vision, and their own ideas for the future of the CAP. The UK presidency also managed to secure agreement with other member states in November on a historic liberalising reform of the EU sugar regime.

Departmental Expenditure

Alex Salmond: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what the administrative costs were of each non-departmental public body for which he has responsibility in the last year for which figures are available; what the total of such costs was in that year; and whether the costs are regarded for the purposes of public expenditure statistical analyses as (a) identifiable and (b) non-identifiable.

Douglas Alexander: The breakdown of the administrative costs in 2004–05 for each of the Foreign and Commonwealth Office (FCO) non-departmental public bodies (NDPB) is as follows:
	
		British Council
		
			  £000 
		
		
			 Employee costs 55,897 
			 Accommodation costs, rent, rates etc. 22,000 
			 Office service costs 44,373 
			 Depreciation and cost of capital charges 6,642 
			 Other non-cash items eg auditors' remuneration 155 
			 Total 129,067 
		
	
	
		
			  £ 
		
		
			 Westminster Foundation for Democracy  
			 Employee costs 546,309 
			 Accommodation costs, rent, rates etc. 54,086 
			 Office service costs 218,583 
			 Depreciation and cost of capital charges 11,359 
			 Other non-cash items eg auditors' remuneration 8,114 
			 Total 838,451 
			   
			 Great Britain and China Centre  
			 Employee costs 177,576 
			 Accommodation costs, rent, rates etc. 43,784 
			 Office service costs 15,836 
			 Depreciation and cost of capital charges 5,739 
			 Other non-cash items eg auditors' remuneration 2,891 
			 Total 245,826 
			   
			 Britain Association for Central and Eastern Europe  
			 Employee costs 169,196 
			 Accommodation costs, rent, rates etc. 40,471 
			 Office service costs 16,977 
			 Depreciation and cost of capital charges 5,858 
			 Other non-cash items eg auditors' remuneration 21,175 
			 Total 253,677 
			   
			 Marshall Aid Commemoration Commission  
			 Employee costs 245,204 
			 Accommodation costs, rent, rates etc. 0 
			 Office service costs 19,000 
			 Depreciation and cost of capital charges 0 
			 Other non-cash items eg auditors' remuneration 23,850 
			 Total 288,054 
		
	
	NDPB expenditure, including the administrative costs of all FCO NDPBs, is classified as "non-identifiable" for the purposes of public expenditure statistical analysis.

EU Agreements (Human Rights)

Andrew Smith: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs if he will make a statement on arrangements for assessing compliance with the terms of the EU-Israel Association agreement.

Douglas Alexander: The EU maintains a regular dialogue at official and ministerial level with Israel to monitor our respective commitments under the framework of the EU-Israel Association Agreement. In this respect, the EU-Israel Political Dialogue and Co-operation sub-committee met for the first time on 21 November 2005 to assess the implementation of the political clauses in the EU-Israel Association Agreement and the Israel European Neighbourhood Policy Action Plan. At the meeting, the EU and Israel proposed the creation of a new working group on human rights.

EU Committees

Michael Weir: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs how many UK Joint Ministerial Committee meetings regarding European Union issues have been held since 1 July 1999.

Douglas Alexander: No Joint Ministerial Committee (Europe) meetings were held in 1999 and 2000, two meetings were held in 2001, two in 2002, four in 2003, eleven in 2004 and nine in 2005.

UK Embassies/Consulates

Angus MacNeil: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs how many consulates have (a) closed and (b) opened in the last 10 years.

Douglas Alexander: The Foreign and Commonwealth Office (FCO) has closed 11 and has opened six consulates in the last ten years. The following table provides further details. Like any well-run organisation, the FCO continues to realign its resources flexibly in line with UK interests.
	
		Consulates
		
			  Country Closed Opened 
		
		
			 1997–98 Colombia Barranquilla(2)  
			 1998–99 Malaysia Kuching  
			  Thailand Chiang Mai  
			  Togo  Lome(2) 
			 
			 1999–2000 USA Cleveland  
			  China  Chongqing 
			  Japan  Fukuoka 
			  Sweden  Gothenburg 
			 
			 2000–01 Haiti  Port-au-Prince(2) 
			  USA  Denver 
			 
			 2004–05 Cameroon Douala(2)  
			  Portugal Oporto  
			 
			 2005–06 USA Dallas  
			  USA San Juan(2)  
			  Japan Fukuoka(2)  
			  Germany Frankfurt  
			  Germany Stuttgart  
			 Total  11 6 
		
	
	(2) Consulates staffed by locally engaged staff only.

Departmental Expenditure

John Spellar: To ask the honourable Member for North Devon, representing the House of Commons Commission how much the Commission spent on bottled water in 2004–05.

Nick Harvey: The cost of providing bottled water for Westminster Hall, Committee and other meeting rooms in 2004–05 was £11,400.

Energy Wastage

Daniel Rogerson: To ask the honourable Member for North Devon, representing the House of Commons Commission what steps the Commission is taking to limit energy wastage on the Parliamentary Estate; and if he will make a statement.

Nick Harvey: A range of measures are being taken to improve energy efficiency on the Parliamentary Estate. A new Energy and Water Saving Policy which contains targets for energy consumption, water consumption and carbon emissions was adopted in late 2005 by both Houses. These targets mirror those set by most Government Departments as proposed in the 'Framework for Sustainable Development on the Government Estate', published by DEFRA.
	Consultants have been recently appointed to advise on the renewal of the current basement heating and cooling systems and the Carbon Trust has been working with the Parliamentary Estate since 2004 to advise on methods to reduce energy consumption and carbon emissions. Recently consultants have advised on heating controls, kitchen energy use and heating, ventilation and air conditioning plant and have identified scope for energy consumption reduction in some areas.
	To raise staff awareness of the importance of energy efficiency the Parliamentary Estates Directorate is embarking on an awareness campaign. The December 2005 issue of 'inHouse', the staff magazine for the House of Commons and the House of Lords, contained an article on the Parliamentary Estate's Energy Savers Group. Guest speakers are to be invited to make presentations on environmental issues to staff every few months. The first presentation was made by Professor David Bellamy on 21 November 2005, entitled "Sustainability and governance" and was very well received. A second speaker, Dave Hampton has been asked to make a presentation during February 2006 on reducing carbon emissions.

Mobile Phones

Sarah Teather: To ask the honourable Member for North Devon, representing the House of Commons Commission how many mobile telephones are (a) rented and (b) owned by the House authorities; and what the total cost was in 2004–05.

Nick Harvey: At 1 January 2006 the Parliamentary ICT service provided 275 mobile phones for use by staff of the House of Commons and the Parliamentary ICT service itself. All these telephones are owned by the House authorities. No mobile telephones are rented.
	The cost of the service in 2004–05 was around £54,600.

Office Equipment

Lynne Featherstone: To ask the honourable Member for North Devon, representing the House of Commons Commission how (a) computers, (b) printers, (c) telephones and (d) office furniture no longer required by the House Estate are disposed of; how many computers have been disposed of in the last 10 years; and if he will make a statement.

Nick Harvey: The House of Commons currently has a number of arrangements in place for the disposal of computers and printers. All of these ensure that the equipment is disposed of in a secure and environmentally sound manner. If possible equipment is offered for resale Member's equipment with useful life remaining is redeployed within the House Administration. There is no record of the number of computers disposed of across the House during the last 10 years.
	Telephone handsets are refurbished and reused if possible and otherwise disposed of safely. Redundant mobile telephones are sent for recycling and the proceeds are donated to the children's ward at St. Thomas's Hospital. Office furniture is sold at auction by a Government approved auction house.

Project Costs

Andrew Turner: To ask the honourable Member for North Devon, representing the House of Commons Commission pursuant to the answer of 5 December 2005, Official Report, column 1369W, on project costs, if he will list (a) the 250 readily identifiable projects and (b) other construction projects costing in excess of £100,000.

Nick Harvey: A list of the 250 readily identifiable projects has been placed in the Library. This list includes construction projects costing in excess of £100,000.

Administration Costs

Angus Robertson: To ask the Deputy Prime Minister which functions of his core Department are carried out in (a) England and (b) London; and what administration costs were associated with these functions for each area in the last year.

Jim Fitzpatrick: The objectives of the Office of the Deputy Prime Minister (ODPM) are set out in the "Office of the Deputy Prime Minister: Annual Report 2005" (Cm 6526, June 2005).
	The total net administration costs incurred by ODPM (excluding the Government Offices for the Regions) for 2004–05 were £166,963,000. ODPM does not monitor the regional breakdown of administration costs relating to the central Department. Such a breakdown could be obtained only at disproportionate cost.

Cleveland Fire Authority

Iain Wright: To ask the Deputy Prime Minister whether he (a) has and (b) plans to re-examine to top-up the proposed changes to the 'A' risk formula grant share in relation to Cleveland Fire Authority in the light of the Hemel Hempstead oil depot fire.

Jim Fitzpatrick: The category classification of risk is obsolete and therefore the 'A' risk indicator is no longer used in the formula grant calculations.
	Following full public consultation over the summer, my hon. Friend the Minister for local government confirmed on 5 December 2005 that the Office of the Deputy Prime Minister propose an indicator to measure top tier control of major accident hazards (COMAH) sites per head as the high risk top up element in the formula.
	The Office of the Deputy Prime Minister will consider all points raised in the current consultation before putting forward our proposed formula for use in 2006–07 and 2007–08, which the House will have the opportunity to debate.

Centre for Ecology and Hydrology

Peter Ainsworth: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry what steps he is taking to ensure that the quality of British environmental science is not harmed by the proposed closure of the Centre for Ecology and Hydrology at Monks Wood; and if he will make a statement.

Barry Gardiner: holding answer 9 January 2006
	The Government is fully committed to maintaining the quality of environmental science in the UK and provides funding to the Natural Environment Research Council for this purpose. NERC is currently consulting widely with stakeholders on proposals on how best the Centre for Ecology and Hydrology can contribute on a sustainable basis to this. I am sure that NERC Council will consider all evidence and views on the potential impact of the proposals, including proposals for the closure of the CEH site at Monks Wood.

Commission for Equality and Human Rights

Diane Abbott: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry what assessment he has made of the merits of a statutory race Committee in relation to the proposed Commission for Equality and Human Rights; and if he will make a statement.

Meg Munn: The Government believes that Committees can play a valuable role in supporting the work of the Commission for Equality and Human Rights through enabling engagement with the communities it serves and ensuring that they can contribute to its strategy and policies. It has therefore provided wide ranging and flexible powers in the Equality Bill for the Commission, as an independent body, to establish Committees as it sees fit and to delegate functions to them. It will be open to the Commission to decide to establish a Committee to oversee its race equality work including its partnership with the Racial Equality Councils and its role in promoting good relations between communities.

Data Protection

Alan Duncan: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry what steps his Department has taken to ensure that users of internet data storage companies are informed of the data protection legislation governing providers based in the EU and US.

Alun Michael: holding answer 9 January 2006
	Enforcement and guidance regarding, the Data Protection Act, which is derived from the EU Data Protection Directive, is the responsibility of the Information Commissioner, details of the Commissioner's work can be found at (http://www.informationcommissioner.gov.uk/). The Data Protection Act puts an obligation on UK-based companies to ensure that data is adequately protected, regardless of where the data is stored.
	Advice regarding data protection legislation has been provided as part of the DTI's information security business advice web pages (http://www.dti.gov.uk/industries/infonnation_security/) and through various information security publications. The advice is generic and not targeted at any specific sector. It's based upon how Information Security standard BS 7799 can contribute towards meeting the security requirements of the UK Data Protection Act.

Data Storage

Alan Duncan: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry what steps his Department has taken to encourage the development of the UK data storage industry.

Alun Michael: holding answer 9 January 2006
	The DTI's Technology Programme supports strategically important technologies and knowledge transfer, often cutting across the needs of specific sectors. The Programme aims to fund industry-academic collaborative research and development projects focusing on industrially relevant leading-edge technology development. It is currently funding a £10 million competition focusing on "Data and Content Storage, Management, Retrieval and Analysis".
	In addition, UK Trade and Investment aims to attract key businesses to set up or extend high value added operations in the UK, as well as to market the strengths of the UK's ICT sectors generally. Activities include inviting overseas companies that are interested in buying from, partnering with or exchanging technology to the UK to meet with UK companies. The UK has attracted and retained several businesses with interests in data storage. Notable examples are, Hewlett Packard, which conducts storage research within its laboratories in Bristol, Seagate Technologies which manufactures key magnetic components in Northern Ireland and an Atlanta based company called Iron Mountain who recently established a data storage centre in Scotland, providing 100 jobs.
	The Government recognises that information technology more widely is a key source of business competitiveness and productivity and is backing a coherent strategy and action plan for IT skills, spearheaded by e-Skills UK, the Sector Skills Council for IT, Telecoms and Contact centres. Employers across the sector are pledging support for the concept of an e-Business Academy as a national hub for IT-related skills development and support.

Departmental Expenditure

Norman Lamb: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry pursuant to his answer on 31 October 2005, Official Report, column 698W what the total cost of (a) publications and (b) surveys by his Department were including (i) commissioning costs and (ii) printing costs.

Alan Johnson: To distinguish between surveys and other types of publications and to identify separate costs for commissioning and printing could only be done at disproportionate cost as this information is not held centrally.
	In pursuant to my answer on 31 October 2005, when I informed you that between 1 January 1997 and 20 October 2005, the number of titles produced by my department was 10,066, the total cost of producing these titles including commissioning and printing amounted to £66,007,130. This equates to an average cost of £6,600 per title.

Internet Rogue Dialling

Peter Bone: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry what measures the Government is taking to tackle internet rogue dialling.

Alun Michael: The Government has taken action to ensure consumers are adequately protected from internet rogue diallers. As a result of discussions with ICSTIS, the premium rate services regulator, a prior permission scheme for internet diallers was put in place in August 2004. This means that all diallers have to be approved by ICSTIS before they can be released. ICSTIS can order service providers to pay redress if they breach the Code, with the threat of automatic barring from providing any premium rate service if they default. The number of complaints has fallen dramatically since the scheme was introduced in August 2004. Complaints to ICSTIS fell to a low of about 50 per month in recent months, down from 10,000 per month when this problem was at its peak in 2004. The Government also asked the media and telecoms regulator, Ofcom, to review premium rate regulation in August 2004.
	Ofcom made a number of recommendations to reduce the scope for consumer harm. Many of these recommendations have already been implemented including raising the maximum penalty to £250,000 for those that abuse premium rate services. The flow of funds from network operators to service providers has now been slowed down. This will keep money in the system, which can then be used to pay redress to consumers who have been the victims of a scam. New rules on compensation for consumers who have been subject to a scam are being implemented. This change will mean that not only will ICSTIS be able to order refunds from service providers but also to collect the money from the telecoms companies to compensate consumers if it is not forthcoming from the service provider.

Temporary Migration

Ashok Kumar: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry what steps he has taken to encourage temporary migration by workers from abroad.

Gerry Sutcliffe: While the Home Office has lead responsibility for migration policy, my officials are working closely with their Home Office colleagues to ensure that the needs of business for migrant workers are taken into account.
	The UK needs migration—tourists, students and migrant workers make a vital contribution to the UK economy. We need to ensure, however, that while we let in migrants with the skills and talents to benefit Britain we stop those who are trying to abuse our hospitality and place a burden on our society.
	The aim is to ensure that those who can contribute most to the UK are selected for entry and that the country takes in only as many people as our economy needs at any one time.
	The 5-year strategy on Immigration and asylum published in February 2005 set out the next stage of the Government's comprehensive reform of the UK's immigration and asylum system of which the points-based selective migration system was a part. It puts the interests of Britain first with strict controls that work.
	The main aims of the new points-based system will be, to:
	improve public confidence in the system;
	fill skills gaps;
	attract highly productive and highly skilled workers and students;
	attract investment and increase productivity and flexibility in the labour market; and
	ensure people leave at the end of their stay.
	The new system will be clearer and more transparent and easier for applicants and employers to understand and use and there will be more objective and easily verifiable criteria.
	The consultation period on the consultation document "Making Migration Work for Britain" closed on 7 November. The Home Office are now analysing all the responses received. We anticipate the Government response to the consultation exercise will be published in the new year, together with a clearer timetable for the next steps. We will continue to consult with key stakeholders on specific issues as we formulate our response and during future stages of the process.
	We are also aware that migrant workers may face difficulties in understanding and asserting their rights. We have offered to work with the Governments of all the new member states, to prepare bi-lingual "know before you go" leaflets, giving advice on questions to ask before leaving the country and on legal protections offered to workers including agency workers. It is particularly important to reach workers in the host country before they leave as it is often much harder to help workers, who may not speak English and have no accommodation arranged, once they arrive.
	To date we have produced leaflets in partnership with the Polish and Lithuanian Governments. These followed a similar leaflet we produced in partnership with the Portuguese Government, and benefited from input from the TUC, the CBI and other stakeholders. These have been distributed widely in both the workers' home country and the UK. In Poland, for example, they have been publicised on television and our embassy and the Polish authorities have worked hard to distribute them via job centres, recruitment fairs and other channels. The text of the leaflets is also available on the DTI website—ttp://www.dti.gov.uk/er/agency/migrant_workers.htm

EU Agricultural Trade Policies

Adam Afriyie: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development if he will take steps to encourage the EU to adopt a rigid timetable for the liberalisation of its agricultural trade policies.

Gareth Thomas: The Government are working hard to encourage the EU to liberalise its agricultural trade policies, including through promoting reform of the Common Agricultural Policy (CAP) as well as continuing to press for an ambitious outcome in the overall round of current World Trade Organisation (WTO) talks beyond that just concluded at the WTO ministerial meeting in Hong Kong.
	HM Treasury and the Department for the Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (DEFRA) released in December 2005, "A Vision for the Common Agricultural Policy", to stimulate further debate in the EU. In the document the Government have laid out how, within the next 10 to 15 years, we will work towards promoting a European agricultural industry which does not distort international trade and the world economy. In addition, in the context of the WTO, we have successfully worked with EU member states, the European Commission and other WTO members in Hong Kong to agree an end date of 2013 for all forms of agricultural export subsidy, with a substantial part to be phased out by 2010. These are the most unfair and distorting of agricultural subsidies.

Departmental Correspondence

Gavin Strang: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what estimate he has made of how much correspondence from his Department was addressed to people who have (a) died and (b) moved house in each of the last five years.

Karen Buck: The Department does not keep a record of returned correspondence and is therefore unable to provide the information requested. The only exception is for vehicle registration documents transactions carried out by the Driver and Vehicle Licensing Agency, where all Post Office returned registration documents were analysed. This showed that, over the five years ending December 2005, a total of 533,864 (0.6 per cent.) of the 86,505,364 registration documents issued were undelivered.
	Of these 84 were returned because the intended recipient had died and 71,812 because the intended recipient had "gone away".
	A further 174,042 were returned because the intended recipient was not known at the address given, 277,626 because of application error by the licensing dealer or customer and 10,330 without a specific reason being given.

Departmental Data

Gavin Strang: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what methods his Department employs to ensure that its data is up-to-date, with particular reference to information on people who have (a) moved house and (b) died.

Karen Buck: A variety of means are used to ensure that the Department keeps the personal data it holds up to date including:
	Internal cross checking across business units;
	Customer helpdesk/inquiry unit;
	Proactive communications with clients;
	Website facilities; and
	Where it is appropriate and lawful, sharing personal data between government departments and other parts of the public sector.
	Specific details for the Department's Agencies are as follows:
	DVLA
	It is a legal requirement for drivers and vehicle keepers to notify DVLA of a change of name, address or vehicle details. DVLA is dependent on the motoring public to inform the Agency of new information as soon as the change occurs. Until a change is notified, DVLA remains unaware that the record is out of date. Because of legislative constraints, DVLA is unable to use third party information to update its records.
	DVLA has introduced several initiatives aimed at improving the accuracy, traceability and up to dateness of its records. These initiatives include the introduction of the new vehicle taxation rules (continuous registration), rollout of the new vehicle registration certificate to all vehicle keepers, and an intensive accuracy publicity campaign.
	DVLA marks the record of those who have died on the basis of information received from the Office of National Statistics to prevent further correspondence being sent out which may cause distress to the bereaved's family.
	The results of DVLA's 2005 Accuracy Survey indicate that 97.4 per cent. of vehicle keepers are able to be traced from the information on the vehicle record. The equivalent figure for 2003 was 90 per cent.
	DSA
	The Driving Standards Agency keeps registers of approved trainers and instructors, including Approved Car Driving Instructors (ADIs) and LGV Driving Instructors. Instructors are encouraged to inform the Agency of any change of name or address within ten days. All ADIs are provided with a change of address card when they register. The four yearly renewal of instructors' registration and periodic testing of ADIs' continued fitness and ability to give instruction, require up to date information. Otherwise an instructor could face removal.
	DSA is introducing an Integrated Register of Driver Trainers. To ensure information on the new Register is as current as possible DSA wrote to all instructors last year. The details requested included their email address for possible future communications.
	DSA is establishing an Internet service that will enable instructors to update their own records electronically.
	Details are checked when instructors contact DSA. In addition, DSA sends a quarterly magazine Despatch and ad hoc updates to instructors. Any returns are checked against DSA and DVLA records to see if a more up to date address is available.
	MCA
	Customers are encouraged to provide up-to-date information to validate our records whenever they require the services of the agency. Re-validation of certificates, which occur on a regular basis, for both ships and seafarers require up-to-date information.
	VOSA
	The Vehicle and Operator Services Agency (VOSA) does not hold data on the public.
	Users of the computerised MOT system are responsible for updating their records on the system. Site Managers annually receive a reminder to confirm or amend information about their site including personnel details. When VOSA receive notification of a person's death their record is amended accordingly. Instructions on these processes are included in the system user guide and internal VOSA Operating Instructions.
	Pre-funded account holders are similarly responsible for updating VOSA on any changes in their contact details.
	Operator licence holders update their records with VOSA's traffic area offices through a self-service system.

Transport (Gravesham)

Adam Holloway: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what his projections are for traffic growth on trunk roads in Gravesham for each of the next 10 years.

Stephen Ladyman: The current traffic growth forecast for the section of A2 trunk road, which runs through Gravesham district and south of Gravesend town, is an average of 1.6 per cent. per annum between 2006 and 2016. This compares to the national forecast growth rate of 1.5 per cent. per annum over the same period.

Urban Bus Challenge Fund

Stephen Hammond: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport how much the Government has spent on the Urban Bus Challenge since its inception.

Karen Buck: There have been three annual competitions held for Urban Bus Challenge awards, the first in 2001 and the last in 2003. The Department awarded £53 million to 106 schemes in the competitions. Schemes were typically funded over three years. Grant payments made so far are expected to total £44 million at the end of the current financial year. The remainder of the £53 million will be paid to authorities in subsequent financial years.

Chemical Defence Establishment

Andrew MacKinlay: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence pursuant to the answer of 19 December 2005, Official Report, column 2347W, on visits to South Africa, whether the combined UK and UN team found that chemical weapons had been used in Mozambique; and if he will make a statement.

Adam Ingram: The findings and conclusions of the United Nations investigation can be found in a UN Security Council Report, S/24065 dated 12 June 1992, available on the United Nations website at http://www.un.org.
	The report stated that
	"we cannot conclude that a chemical warfare agent was used in the attack."

Far Eastern Civilian Prisoners of War Compensation Scheme

Austin Mitchell: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence when the bloodlink connection in the Far Eastern Civilian Prisoners of the Japanese Compensation Scheme requiring applicants to be born in the UK or have a parent or grandparent born in the UK was introduced; for what reason; whether it was also imposed on former military personnel held by the Japanese as prisoners of war; and how many applicants who did not have this bloodlink (a) were paid prior to its introduction as a criterion and (b) have been refused since its introduction.

Don Touhig: The "Birthlink" criterion was introduced in March 2001 and formally announced on 11 July 2001, Official Report, columns 516–17W. It was intended to clarify the eligibility criteria for civilian internees and specifically to define the nature of the close link with the United Kingdom at the time of internment required of civilian internees. The criterion applies only to the civilian element of the Scheme; for military internees (prisoners of war) the nature of the close link was defined in terms of membership of UK armed forces at time of internment. The data requested regarding the number of applicants who did not meet the birthlink criterion is being gathered as part of the review I announced on 12 December 2005, Official Report, column 1119.

Military Equipment

Andrew Rosindell: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence pursuant to the answer of 22 November 2005, Official Report, column 1877W, how many complaints about (a) body armour, (b) weapons and (c) machinery have been recorded in the recent campaigns in (i) Iraq and (ii) Afghanistan.

Adam Ingram: In respect of body armour, I can confirm that this was included in my earlier reply, 22 November 2005, Official Report, column 1877W, as a clothing product. Defect reports on clothing products are held for 12 months. During the past 12 months there have been no such reports emanating from either Iraq or Afghanistan.
	"Weapons and machinery" have, for the purposes of this question, been defined as small arms and vehicles. "Complaints" has been defined as those issues giving rise to an equipment failure report (EFR) or serious equipment failure (SEF). An EFR is logged if the user believes that 'an item of equipment or component has failed unreasonably early in its life, or that it exhibits a design, handling or safety problem'. A SEF is defined as 'a failure or suspected failure that results in, or has the potential to result in, personal injury, loss of life or serious damage'. All EFRs and SEFs are reported to the Defence Logistic Organisation for investigation and any necessary action. Available records for EFRs and SEFs on small arms and vehicles emanating from Afghanistan and Iraq/Kuwait are in the following tables:
	
		Iraq and Kuwait—21 March 2003 to 15 December 2005
		
			 Equipment type Number of equipment failure reports Number of serious equipment failures 
		
		
			 Combat Vehicle Reconnaissance (Tracked) 141 4 
			 Armoured Fighting Vehicle 430 Series 106 6 
			 Warrior Armoured Personnel Carrier 419 24 
			 Challenger 2 Main Battle Tank 399 7 
			 Challenger Repair and Recovery Vehicle 27 1 
			 Leyland (all variants) 52 9 
			 Bedford (all variants) 87 1 
			 Heavy Equipment Transporters 234 2 
			 Fuel &Water Tankers + Recovery Vehicles 40 4 
			 Pinzgauer 22 0 
			 BV206 23 0 
			 Land Rover (all variants) 967 22 
			 Material Handling Equipment and Earth Moving Equipment 64 5 
			 Rifle 5.56 mm SA80 (14)101 3 
			 Light Support Weapon 5.56mm (14)47 0 
			 MINIMI Light machine Gun 5.56 mm 0 1 
			 General purpose Machine Gun 7.62 mm (14)4 1 
			 Under-slung Grenade Launcher (14)5 1 
		
	
	
		Afghanistan—1 April 2002 to 15 December 2005
		
			 Equipment type Number of equipment failure reports Number of serious equipment failures 
		
		
			 Land Rover (all variants) 39 1 
			 Saxon 12 — 
			 JCB (All variants) 7 — 
			 Leyland (all variants) 8 — 
			 Rifle 5.56 mm SA80 A2 (14)4 — 
			 Machine Gun 5.56mm (Minimi) (14)1 — 
			 Night Vision Goggles 5 — 
			 Under-slung Grenade Launcher 1 — 
		
	
	(14) Information on weapons not available before 1 August 2003

Departmental Equipment

Michael Weir: To ask the Leader of the House how many (a) personal computers, (b) laptops, (c) servers, (d) printers, (e) scanners, (f) photocopiers and (g) fax machine his office owned in (i) 2003–04 and (ii) 2004–05.

Geoff Hoon: In 2003–04 and 2004–05, the Office of the Leader of the House of Commons owned three fax machines. All other IT equipment was leased through a service level agreement with the Cabinet Office.

Correspondence

David Amess: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills how many (a) letters from hon. Members, (b) letters from members of the public and (c) Parliamentary Questions from (i) hon. Members and (ii) Lords were dealt with by her Department in each year since 1995; in respect of what percentage her Department took (A) more than one month and (B) more than three months to provide a substantive answer; and if she will make a statement.

Bill Rammell: We are unable to provide the requested figures without incurring disproportionate cost.
	The Cabinet Office, on an annual basis, publishes a report to Parliament on the performance of departments in replying to Members/Peers correspondence. The Report for 2004 was published on 6 April 2005, Official Report, columns 137–140WS. Reports for earlier years are available in the Library of the House.
	The Department's target for correspondence from members of the public is to reply to 95 within 15 working days of receipt. Ministers take responses to Parliamentary Questions very seriously, and endeavour to answer within Parliamentary deadlines where possible.

Education Maintenance Allowance

Brian Jenkins: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills how many young people in Tamworth have been granted an education maintenance allowance.

Maria Eagle: This is a matter for the Learning and Skills Council, who operate education maintenance allowances for the DfES and hold the information about take-up of the scheme. Mark Haysom, the council's chief executive, has written to my hon. Friend with the information requested and a copy of his reply has been placed in the House Library.
	Letter from Mark Haysom, dated 20 December 2005
	I am writing in response to your Parliamentary Question that asked "how many young people in Tamworth have been granted an education maintenance allowance?"
	Information on the number of young people who have applied, enrolled and received Education Maintenance Allowance (EMA) is available at Local Authority level, but not at constituency level. The information relates to academic years.
	By the end of October 2005, 5,158 young people in the Staffordshire Local Education Authority area had received one or more EMA payments in the academic year 2005/06 so far.
	During the academic year 2004/05, 3,632 young people in the Staffordshire Local Education Authority received one or more EMA payments.
	I hope this information is helpful and addresses your question. If you would like further details please contact Chris Bradley at the LSC National Office on 0114 207 4512 or christopher.bradley@lsc.gov.uk

Education Maintenance Allowance

Sarah Teather: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills how many young people in (a) Brent and (b) London have been granted an education maintenance allowance.

Maria Eagle: This is a matter for the Learning and Skills Council, who operate education maintenance allowances for the DfES and hold the information about take-up of the scheme. Mark Haysom, the council's chief executive has written to the hon. Member with the information requested and a copy of his reply has been placed in the House Library.
	Letter from Mark Haysom, dated 22 December 2005
	I am writing in response to your Parliamentary Question that asked "how many young people in a) Brent and b) London have been granted an Education Maintenance Allowance (EMA)?
	Information on the number of young people who have applied, enrolled and received EMA is available at Local Authority level, but not at constituency level. The information relates to academic years.
	By the end of November 2005, 2,570 young people in Brent Local Education Authority area and 55,450 in the London region had received one or more EMA payments in the academic year 2005/06 so far.
	During the academic year 2004/05, 2,744 young people in the Brent Local Education Authority and 50,896 in the London region received one or more EMA payments. During the academic year 2003/04 EMA was piloted in Brent and 1,902 young people received EMA payments.
	I hope this information is helpful and addresses your question. If you would like further details please contact Chris Bradley at the LSC National Office on 0114 207 4512 or christopher.bradley@lsc.gov.uk

Education Maintenance Allowance

Alison Seabeck: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills how many young people in Plymouth have received an educational maintenance allowance payment since it was introduced.

Maria Eagle: This is a matter for the Learning and Skills Council, who operate education maintenance allowances for the DfES and hold the information about take-up of the scheme. Mark Haysom, the Council's chief executive, has written to my hon. Friend with the information requested and a copy of his reply has been placed in the House Library.
	Letter from Mark Haysom, dated 21 December 2005
	I am writing in response to your Parliamentary Question that asked "how many young people in Plymouth have received an Educational Maintenance Allowance payment since it was introduced?"
	Information on the number of young people who have applied, enrolled and received Education Maintenance Allowance (EMA) is available at Local Authority level, but not at constituency level. The information relates to academic years.
	By the end of October 2005, 1,963 young people in the Plymouth Local Education Authority area had received one or more EMA payments in the academic year 2005/06 so far.
	During the academic year 2004/05, 1,425 young people in the Plymouth Local Education Authority received one or more EMA payments.
	I hope this information is helpful and addresses your question. If you would like further details please contact Chris Bradley at the LSC National Office on 0114 207 4512 or christopher.bradley@lsc.gov.uk

Education Maintenance Allowance

Jim Cousins: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills how many students at each educational institution in Newcastle upon Tyne are in receipt of an education maintenance allowance.

Maria Eagle: holding answer 19 December 2005
	This is a matter for the Learning and Skills Council, who operate Education Maintenance Allowances for the DfES and hold the information about take-up of the scheme. Mark Haysom, the Council's chief executive has written to my hon. Friend with the information requested and a copy of his reply has been placed in the House Library.
	Letter from Mark Haysom, dated 22 December 2005
	I am writing in response to your Parliamentary Question that asked "how many students are in receipt of an educational maintenance allowance at each educational institution in Newcastle upon Tyne."
	Information on the number of young people who have applied, enrolled and received Education Maintenance Allowance is available at Local Education Authority level, but not at constituency level.
	Attached is a breakdown by school / college in the Newcastle upon Tyne Local Education Authority of students who are in receipt of EMA at 15 December 2005.
	I hope this information is helpful and addresses your question. If you would like further details please contact Chris Bradley at the LSC National Office on 0114 207 4512 or christopher.bradley@lsc.gov.uk
	
		Table showing numbers of EMA recipients in Newcastle upon Tyne local education authority according to the school/college they attend.
		
			 School/College Numbers in receipt of EMA 
		
		
			 All Saints College 45 
			 Benfield School 54 
			 Central Newcastle High School 17 
			 Dame Allan's Boys' School 23 
			 Gosforth High School 200 
			 Heaton Manor School 117 
			 Kenton School 188 
			 La Sagesse School 10 
			 Newcastle Bridges School 2 
			 Newcastle College 1,846 
			 Newcastle-upon-Tyne Church High School 14 
			 Northern Counties School 8 
			 Royal Grammar School 29 
			 Sacred Heart High School 123 
			 Sage Academy of Performing Arts 5 
			 Sir Charles Parsons School 14 
			 St Cuthbert's High School 67 
			 St Mary's Catholic Comprehensive School 47 
			 Thomas Bewick School 4 
			 Trinity School 1 
			 Walbottle Campus Technology College 87 
			 Walker Technology College 105 
			 West Gate Community College 50 
			 Westfield School 9 
		
	
	Note:
	The data is at 15 December 2005 and relates to academic year 2005/06.

Public Service Agreements

Philip Hammond: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills whether the data required to measure 2004 public service agreement target number 1 are (a) available and (b) published.

Beverley Hughes: The PSA 1 target comprises 2 elements. The first element of the target relates to the proportion of children across England achieving a good level of development by 2008 and is derived from a pupil level sample. The second element of the target relates to reduction in the inequalities in achievement between children in the 20 per cent. most disadvantaged areas and the rest of England by 2008 and is measured by combining the 10 per cent. pupil level sample with an Index of Deprivation. The target will be considered to be met if both parts are met individually. Both of these elements focus the numbers of children achieving a good level of development. A full technical definition of how good development is defined, and other aspects of the target, is available on the Department's Sure Start website http://www.surestart.gov.uk/publications/?Document=1393
	The current figures for the proportions of children achieving a good level of development as defined by both elements of the PSA1 target have yet to be published.
	The final figures for the Foundation Stage Profile for 2005 will form the baseline for the target and will be published in a Statistical First Release (SFR) in February. The SFR will include a table showing these baseline percentages.
	The provisional figures on the Foundation Stage Profile were published in Statistical First Release 44/2005 "Foundation Stage Profile 2005: National Results (Provisional)", which is available on the Department's website www.dfes.gov.uk/rsgateway/. These results were derived from the summary data supplied by local authorities.

University Entrance

Jon Trickett: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills how many young people went to university from secondary schools in (a) Minsthorpe, (b) Hemsworth, (c) Featherstone, (d) Kettlethorpe and (e) Crofton in each of the last five years.

Bill Rammell: Information on the number of pupils from individual small towns and villages is not held by the Department. The five areas mentioned all lie within the Hemsworth constituency. The latest available figures on participation by constituency were published by the Higher Education Funding Council for England in January 2005 in "Young Participation in England", which is available from their website at: http://www.hefce.ac.uk/pubs/hefce/2005/05_03/ This shows the number of young entrants (aged 18 or 19) participating in higher education for the years 1997 to 2000. The figures for the Hemsworth constituency are shown in the table.
	
		Higher Education entrants and young participation rate (YPR(A)) for Hemsworth constituency
		
			   Participation rate (YPR(A))(19) (%) 
			 Year cohort Entrants(18) Hemsworth England 
		
		
			 1997 250 23 29 
			 1998 260 22 29 
			 1999 250 21 29 
			 2000 240 22 30 
		
	
	(18) Figures are rounded to the nearest 10.
	(19) Figures are rounded to the nearest 1 per cent.
	Source:
	Higher Education Funding Council for England (HEFCE)

Common Agricultural Policy

Graham Brady: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what estimate his Department has made of the annual cost of the common agricultural policy arising from (a) increased food prices and (b) direct costs to the Exchequer under the new financial perspective 2007 to 2013.

Des Browne: holding answer 9 January 2006
	The OECD estimates the annual cost of the common agricultural policy to EU consumers arising from increased food prices at around €50 billion each year, of which part will be borne by UK consumers. In addition, taxpayers in the UK and other member states pay the fiscal costs of the CAP. I refer the hon. Member to the answer I have given to his related question number 39460.
	For a more comprehensive assessment of the costs of the CAP, I refer the hon. Member to the paper "A Vision for the Common Agricultural Policy" published by the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs and HM Treasury in December, copies of which are available in the Library of the House.

Common Agricultural Policy

Graham Brady: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what estimate his Department has made of the cost of the common agricultural policy to (a) the EU and (b) the UK under the new financial perspective 2007 to 2013.

Des Browne: holding answer 9 January 2006
	The European Council meeting of 15–16 December agreed to set the EU budget for pillar 1 of the common agricultural policy (market-related expenditure and direct payments) for 2007–13 at €293.105 billion in 2004 prices. The rural development budget was set at €69.25 billion, excluding transfers from pillar 1 to this budget.
	The UK contributes to the budget as a whole, not to specific policies. I refer the hon. Member to the answer I have given to the right hon. Member for Wokingham (Mr. Redwood), question number 40045.
	A wide-ranging assessment of the economic, financial, social and environmental costs of the CAP is contained in the paper "A Vision for the Common Agricultural Policy" published by the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs and HM Treasury in December, copies of which are available in the Library of the House.

Contingent Liabilities

Michael Weir: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what the total Government expenditure was on contingent liabilities which became payable in each year since 1992.

Des Browne: Government does not separately record expenditure on items previously recorded as contingent liabilities. The cost of obtaining details of contingent liabilities that became payable in each year since 1992 would therefore exceed the Disproportionate Cost Threshold for answering parliamentary questions and so I am unable to provide the information requested.

Employees' Earnings

Michael Moore: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer how many and what proportion of (a) all employees, (b) full-time employees and (c) part-time employees in (i) Scotland, (ii) each of the unitary local authority areas in Scotland and (iii) the United Kingdom had hourly gross earnings excluding overtime below (A) £7.61, (B) £5.72 and (C) £4.85 for the categories: (1) male, (2) female and (3) all workers.

John Healey: The information requested falls within the responsibility of the National Statistician who has been asked to reply.
	Letter from Karen Dunnell, dated 10 January 2006:As National Statistician, I have been asked to reply to your recent Parliamentary Question asking how many and what proportion of (a) all employees, (b) full-time employees and (c) part-time employees in (i) Scotland, (ii) each of the unitary local authority areas in Scotland and (iii) the United Kingdom had hourly earnings (gross, excluding overtime) below (A) £7.61, (B) £5.72 and (C) £4.85 for the categories: (1) male, (2) female and (3) all workers. (40445).
	Currently average earnings are estimated from the Annual Survey of Hours and Earnings (ASHE), and are provided for full time employees on adult rates whose pay for the survey period was not affected by absence. This is the standard definition used for ASHE. The ASHE does not collect data on the self employed and people who do unpaid work.
	I am placing a table in the House of Commons Library showing the proportion of all employees, full time employees and part-time employees by local authority by place of work for Scotland and unitary local authority areas for 2005. These statistics are also available on the National Statistics website at:
	http://www.statistics.gov.uk/StatBase/Product.asp?vlnk=13101.
	The ASHE, carried out in April of each year, is the most comprehensive source of earnings information in the United Kingdom. It is a one per cent sample of all employees who are members of pay-as-you-earn (PAYE) schemes.
	Yours sincerely

Employees' Earnings

Michael Moore: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what the distribution of gross earnings was for those earning (a) under the point below which 10 per cent. of earners fall and (b) the point above which 10 per cent. of earners exceed, for (i) male, (ii) female and (iii) all workers in (A) Scotland and (B) each of the unitary local authority areas in Scotland.

John Healey: The information requested falls within the responsibility of the National Statistician who has been asked to reply.
	Letter from Karen Dunnell, dated 10 January 2006
	As National Statistician, I have been asked to reply to your recent Parliamentary Question asking what the distribution of gross earnings was for those earning (a) under the point below which 10 per cent. of earners fall and (b) the point above which 10 per cent. of earners exceed, for the categories: (i) male, (ii) female and (iii) all workers in (A) Scotland and (B) each of the unitary local authority areas in Scotland. (40446)
	Currently average earnings are estimated from the Annual Survey of Hours and Earnings (ASHE), and are provided for full time employees on adult rates whose pay for the survey period was not affected by absence. This is the standard definition used for ASHE. The ASHE does not collect data on the self employed and people who do unpaid work.
	I attach a table showing the points above and below which 10% of earners fall for Gross Weekly Earnings for all, male and female workers, by local authority by place of work for Scotland and unitary authorities for 2005. These statistics are also available on the National Statistics website at: http://www.statistics.gov.uk/StatBase/Product.asp?vlnk=13101
	The ASHE, carried out in April of each year, is the most comprehensive source of earnings information in the United Kingdom. It is a one per cent sample of all employees who are members of pay-as-you-earn (PAYE) schemes.
	Yours sincerely
	
		Gross weekly pay for all workers jobs(30) by place of work
		
			 £ 
			 2005 Point below which 10 per cent. of earners fall Point above which 10 per cent. of earners exceed 
		
		
			 Scotland 105 718 
			 Aberdeen City 100 884 
			 Aberdeenshire 85 (31)— 
			 Angus (31)— (31)— 
			 Argyll and Bute 105 (31)— 
			 Scottish Borders, The 102 (31)— 
			 Clackmannanshire 85 (31)— 
			 Dumfries and Galloway 83 (31)— 
			 Dundee City 122 (31)— 
			 East Ayrshire 74 (31)— 
			 East Dunbartonshire 101 (31)— 
			 East Lothian (31)— (31)— 
			 East Renfrewshire 104 (31)— 
			 Edinburgh, City of 126 814 
			 Falkirk 108 (31)— 
			 Fife 86 643 
			 Glasgow City 116 744 
			 Highland 100 (31)— 
			 Inverclyde 97 (31)— 
			 Midlothian 145 (31)— 
			 Moray 107 (31)— 
			 North Ayrshire 111 (31)— 
			 North Lanarkshire 106 715 
			 Orkney Islands (31)— (31)— 
			 Perth and Kinross 95 (31)— 
			 Renfrewshire 100 (31)— 
			 Shetland Islands (31)— (31)— 
			 South Ayrshire 104 (31)— 
			 South Lanarkshire 112 700 
			 Stirling 113 (31)— 
			 West Dunbartonshire 115 (31)— 
			 West Lothian 118 (31)— 
			 Western Isles (31)— (31)— 
		
	
	(30) Employees on adult rates whose pay for the survey pay period was not affected by absence.
	(31) Figures suppressed due to unreliability.
	Source:
	Annual survey of Hours and Earnings, Office for National Statistics.
	
		Gross weekly pay for full-time males jobs(32) by place of work
		
			 £ 
			 2005 Point below which 10 per cent. of earners fall Point above which 10 per cent. of earners exceed 
		
		
			 Scotland 244 854 
			 Aberdeen City 290 (33)— 
			 Aberdeenshire 248 (33)— 
			 Angus 250 (33)— 
			 Argyll and Bute (33)— (33)— 
			 Scottish Borders, The 235 (33)— 
			 Clackmannanshire (33)— (33)— 
			 Dumfries and Galloway 228 (33)— 
			 Dundee City 247 (33)— 
			 East Ayrshire 228 (33)— 
			 East Dunbartonshire (33)— (33)— 
			 East Lothian (33)— (33)— 
			 East Renfrewshire (33)— (33)— 
			 Edinburgh, City of 256 949 
			 Falkirk 222 (33)— 
			 Fife 240 (33)— 
			 Glasgow City 239 908 
			 Highland 230 (33)— 
			 Inverclyde (33)— (33)— 
			 Midlothian 214 (33)— 
			 Moray 272 (33)— 
			 North Ayrshire 253 (33)— 
			 North Lanarkshire 244 (33)— 
			 Orkney Islands (33)— (33)— 
			 Perth and Kinross 239 (33)— 
			 Renfrewshire 263 (33)— 
			 Shetland Islands (33)— (33)— 
			 South Ayrshire 217 (33)— 
			 South Lanarkshire 244 (33)— 
			 Stirling 246 (33)— 
			 West Dunbartonshire (33)— (33)— 
			 West Lothian 251 (33)— 
			 Western Isles (33)— (33)— 
		
	
	(32) Employees on adult rates whose pay for the survey pay period was not affected by absence.
	(33) Figures suppressed due to unreliability.
	Source:
	Annual Survey of Hours and Earnings, Office for National Statistics.
	
		Gross weekly pay for full-time females jobs(34) by place of work
		
			 £ 
			 2005 Point below which 10 per cent. fall Point above which 10 per cent. of earners of earners exceed 
		
		
			 Scotland 212 674 
			 Aberdeen City 225 (35)— 
			 Aberdeenshire 190 (35)— 
			 Angus (35)— (35)— 
			 Argyll and Bute (35)— (35)— 
			 Scottish Borders, The 197 (35)— 
			 Clackmannanshire (35)— (35)— 
			 Dumfries and Galloway 197 (35)— 
			 Dundee City 228 (35)— 
			 East Ayrshire 208 (35)— 
			 East Dunbartonshire (35)— (35)— 
			 East Lothian (35)— (35)— 
			 East Renfrewshire (35)— (35)— 
			 Edinburgh, City of 226 742 
			 Falkirk 210 (35)— 
			 Fife 203 (35)— 
			 Glasgow City 225 686 
			 Highland 193 (35)— 
			 Inverclyde 220 (35)— 
			 Midlothian (35)— (35)— 
			 Moray (35)— (35)— 
			 North Ayrshire 204 (35)— 
			 North Lanarkshire 204 (35)— 
			 Orkney Islands (35)— (35)— 
			 Perth and Kinross 211 (35)— 
			 Renfrewshire 224 (35)— 
			 Shetland Islands (35)— (35)— 
			 South Ayrshire 197 (35)— 
			 South Lanarkshire 198 (35)— 
			 Stirling (35)— (35)— 
			 West Dunbartonshire (35)— (35)— 
			 West Lothian 212 (35)— 
			 Western Isles (35)— (35)— 
		
	
	(34) Employees on adult rates whose pay for the survey pay-period was not affected by absence.
	(35) Figures suppressed due to unreliability.
	Source:
	Annual Survey of Hours and Earnings, Office for National Statistics.

EU Budget

Peter Bone: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what the UK's (a) gross contribution, (b) net contribution and (c) rebate has been in each year since the United Kingdom joined the European Economic Community (i) in cash terms and (ii) in inflation-adjusted real terms.

Ivan Lewis: UK gross contributions, abatement and net contributions for the period 1973–74 to 2004–05 in both cash terms and at constant 2004–05 prices are set out in the following tables.
	
		UK gross contributions, abatement and net contributions to the EC Budget
		
			 (£ million) 
			  Gross contribution Abatement Net contribution 
		
		
			 1973–74 200 — 96 
			 1974–75 197 — 35 
			 1975–76 370 — 16 
			 1976–77 544 — 224 
			 1977–78 941 — 559 
			 1978–79 1,323 — 768 
			 1979–80 1,665 — 884 
			 1980–81 1,900 — 233 
			 1981–82 2,330 — 225 
			 1982–83 2,820 — 737 
			 1983–84 3,097 — 961 
			 1984–85 3,614 — 1,133 
			 1985–86 3,745 -823 992 
			 1986–87 5,121 -1,343 1,221 
			 1987–88 4,906 -1,137 1,811 
			 1988–89 5,167 -1,600 1,167 
			 1989–90 5,804 -1,317 2,452 
			 1990–91 6,411 -1,838 2,185 
			 1991–92 6,129 -2,428 943 
			 1992–93 6,970 -1,993 2,168 
			 1993–94 8,407 -2,350 2,192 
			 1994–95 6,892 -1,648 1,641 
			 1995–96 9,211 -1,576 3,852 
			 1996–97 9,278 -2,418 2,293 
			 1997–98 8,603 -1,563 2,567 
			 1998–99 10,507 -2,447 4,111 
			 1999–2000 9,207 -2,206 3,325 
			 2000–01 10.640 -2,223 4,318 
			 2001–02 9,213 -4,427 1,477 
			 2002–03 9,737 -3,233 3,080 
			 2003–04 11,371 -3,874 3,264 
			 2004–05 12,183 -3,722 3,909 
		
	
	Source:
	All figures up to 1995–1996 are taken from Departmental Reports of the Chancellor of the Exchequer's Departments or, prior to 1992, Government Expenditure Plans. Figures for 1996–97 to 2004–05 taken from annual "European Community Finances" White Papers.
	
		UK gross contributions, abatement and net contributions , to the EC Budget—2004–05 prices
		
			 £ million 
			  Gross contribution Abatement Net contribution 
		
		
			 1973–74 1,540 — 739 
			 1974–75 1,286 — 229 
			 1975–76 1,939 — 84 
			 1976–77 2,473 — 1,018 
			 1977–78 3,752 — 2,229 
			 1978–79 4,870 — 2,827 
			 1979–80 5,293 — 2,810 
			 1980–81 5,193 — 637 
			 1981–82 5,712 — 552 
			 1982–83 6,456 — 1,687 
			 1983–84 6,774 — 2,102 
			 1984–85 7,525 — 2,359 
			 1985–86 7,361 -1,618 1,950 
			 1986–87 9,755 -2,558 2,326 
			 1987–88 8,987 -2,083 3,317 
			 1988–89 8,929 -2,765 2,017 
			 1989–90 9,304 -2,111 3,931 
			 1990–91 9,369 -2,686 3,193 
			 1991–92 8,551 -3,388 1,316 
			 1992–93 9,428 -2,696 2,932 
			 1993–94 11,180 -3,126 2,915 
			 1994–95 8,921 -2,134 2,124 
			 1995–96 11,548 -1,976 4,829 
			 1996–97 11,356 -2,960 2,807 
			 1997–98 10,192 -1,851 3,042 
			 1998–99 12,072 -2,811 4,723 
			 1999–2000 10,414 -2,495 3,761 
			 2000–01 11,685 -2,441 4,743 
			 2001–02 9,969 -4,790 1,598 
			 2002–03 10,321 -3,427 3,265 
			 2003–04 11,724 -3,995 3,366 
			 2004–05 12,183 -3,722 3,909 
		
	
	Source:
	1973–74 to 2004–05 cash figures converted to constant 2004–05 prices.

Population Projections

Philip Hollobone: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer whether the 2003-based sub-national population projections for England produced by the Office for National Statistics include population increases as a result of Growth Area expansions from the Milton Keynes and South Midlands Sub-Regional Spatial Strategy.

John Healey: The information requested falls within the responsibility of the National Statistician who has been asked to reply.
	Letter from Karen Dunnell, dated 10 January 2006
	As National Statistician, I have been asked to reply to your recent Parliamentary Question concerning the 2003-based subnational population projections. (40426)
	The 2003-based subnational population projections are based on assumptions about local fertility, mortality and migration levels derived from the five-year reference period 1999 to 2003. They are demographic trend-based projections and take no account of any future growth or development policies of an area.
	The effects of the Milton Keynes and South Midlands Sub-Regional Spatial strategy will be covered in future sets of projections when they are observed in the mid year estimates and historic migration estimates that are used to set the projection assumptions.
	Yours sincerely

Red Diesel

John Spellar: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer how many litres of red diesel were distributed in (a) Great Britain and (b) Northern Ireland in the last five years for which figures are available; and what estimate he has made of the tax revenue foregone on red diesel compared with the standard rate of duty for diesel fuel.

John Healey: Hydrocarbon oils clearance figures are published by Customs and Excise in the Hydrocarbon Oils Bulletin, a copy of which can be found on the UK Trade Information website www.uktradeinfo.com. However, this data is not disaggregated by geographical region, so the data does not distinguish between Great Britain and Northern Ireland.
	Charging the standard rate of duty for diesel fuel rather than the rebated gas oil rate would imply the following revenue yields. However in practice the actual yield would be significantly lower than this because such an increase in the duty rate would considerably reduce the demand for rebated gas oil.
	
		
			  £ billion 
		
		
			 2000–01 3.1 
			 2001–02 2.9 
			 2002–03 2.8 
			 2003–04 2.6 
			 2004–05 2.7

Scottish Fiscal Autonomy

Michael Weir: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer how the budget of the Scotland Office is determined.

Des Browne: Details of the funding arrangements for the Scotland Office and Scottish Executive are set out in the Treasury publication "Funding the Scottish Parliament, National Assembly for Wales and Northern Ireland Assembly". Details are also provided in the Scotland Office annual report.

Scottish Fiscal Autonomy

Michael Weir: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer how the comparability factors for Scottish expenditure for the purposes of the Barnett formula were determined.

Des Browne: Details of the comparability factors underlying the Barnett Formula can be found within the Treasury publication "Funding the Scottish Parliament, National Assembly for Wales and Northern Ireland Assembly".

Tax Credit

William McCrea: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer how many families in each constituency in Northern Ireland have received (a) child and (b) working tax credits since they were introduced; and how many have received incorrect payments due to computer problems.

Dawn Primarolo: I refer the hon. Member to my reply to the hon. Member of Swansea, East (Mrs. James) on 28 June 2005, Official Report, column 1430W. Regarding the second part of the question, this information is not available.

Tax Credit

Jim Cousins: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what the costs have been of specialist advice outside the EDS contract on the capacity, structure and performance of the tax credit computer system since 1 January 2004.

Dawn Primarolo: The tax credits IT system went live in 2002, under the (then) Inland Revenue's outsourcing contract with EDS. The EDS contract ended on the 30 June 2004, when it was replaced by a new contract with Capgemini. Between the 1 January and 30 June 2004, HM Revenue and Customs did not receive any specialist advice outside of the EDS contract on the capacity, structure and performance of the tax credit computer system.

Tax Credit

Jennifer Willott: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer 
	(1)  how many tax credit overpayments have been made in Wales; what proportion of tax credits have been overpaid in Wales; what the total tax credit overpayments in Wales were in each year since the tax credit system began; and if he will make a statement;
	(2)  what the average overpayment was for tax credits in Wales in each year since the tax credit system began; and if he will make a statement.

Dawn Primarolo: Information on the number and sizes of 2003–04 tax credits awards overpaid and underpaid at 5 April 2004, by region, are published in "Child and Working Tax Credits. Finalised Awards 2003–04. Supplement on payments in 2003–04. Geographical Analysis." This publication and provisional estimates for the number of in-work families by region with tax credit awards as at selected dates in 2004–05 are available on the HMRC website at:
	http://www.hmrc.gov.uk/stats/personal-tax-credits/cwtc-geog-stats.htm.

Illegal Taxis

David Amess: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many people have been prosecuted for operating an illegal taxi service in (a) Southend, (b) Essex, (c) Hertfordshire, (d) Greater London and (e) England and Wales in each of the last five years.

Fiona Mactaggart: Data from the court proceedings database held by the Office for Criminal Justice Reform is given in the table. It shows the number of defendants prosecuted at the magistrates court for the offence of 'touting for hire car services in a public place' under Section 167 of the Criminal Justice and Public Order Act 1994 for South East Essex petty sessional area (which includes Southend), Essex, Hertfordshire, Greater London and England and Wales 2000–04.
	It is not possible to identify those prosecutions in Southend as the data is not collected at this level of detail.
	
		Number of defendants proceeded against at the magistrates courts for operating an illegal taxi service, 2000–04(44)
		
			 Offence descriptions: touting for hire car services in a public place 
			 Statute: Criminal Justice and Public Order Act 1994 S.167 
			 Location 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 
		
		
			 South East Essex PSA — — — — — 
			 Essex — — 1 1 2 
			 Hertfordshire — 2 1 1 3 
			 Greater London 144 164 222 242 467 
			 England and Wales 156 178 229 256 483 
		
	
	(44) These data are on the principal offence basis
	Court statistics for 2005 will be available in the autumn 2006.

Capital Schemes

Paul Burstow: To ask the Secretary of State for Health if she will set out the basis on which the NHS capital programme is financed by credit guarantee finance.

Liam Byrne: The HM Treasury document, "PFI—Meeting the Investment Challenge" (2000) set out the Government's approach to the private finance initiative (PFI) and the role of private finance in PFI. This included the Government's plans to test the use of alternative finance for certain PFI projects—credit guarantee finance (CGF).
	CGF is a loan, guaranteed by banks, monolines or other acceptable finance institutions, from the sponsoring department to a PFI project special purpose vehicle on market terms.
	National health service capital spending, including PFI, is shown in figure 4.1 in the 2005 departmental report. 2004–05 total outturn was £4,864 million and 2005–06 plan is £6,087 million. CGF has provided finance for two health PFI schemes—£265 million for Leeds in 2004–05 and Portsmouth, expected to be about £262 million, which will reach financial close in the next few days. The CGF amounts are included in the totals.

Dentistry

Paul Keetch: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many NHS dentists there are in Hereford constituency; and what percentage of their time each spent treating NHS patients in the last period for which figures are available.

Rosie Winterton: As at 30 September 2005, there were 69 national health service dentists with a general dental services (CDS) or personal dental services (PDS) contract within Hereford constituency.
	A dentist with a CDS or PDS contract may provide as little or as much NHS treatment as he or she chooses or has agreed with the primary care trust. The Dental Practice Board has no information concerning the amount of time dedicated to private or NHS work by individual dentists.

Dentistry

Chris Ruane: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many (a) hospital and (b) community dentists have been employed in each year from 1979 to 1997, broken down by strategic health authority area.

Rosie Winterton: The data requested is only available from 1987 and is shown in the tables.
	
		Hospital and community health services (HCHS) : dental staff by sector within each strategic health authority,England at 30 September each year
		
			 Number (headcount) 
			   1987 1988 
			Of which:  Of which: 
			   All dental staff Hospital dental staff Community health service dental staff All dental staff Hospital dental staff Community health service dental staff 
		
		
			 England  3,711 1,950 1,761 3,652 1,990 1,662 
			 
			 Of which:
			 Norfolk, Suffolk and Cambridgeshire Q01 108 41 67 112 46 66 
			 Bedfordshire and Hertfordshire Q02 70 23 47 64 15 49 
			 Essex Q03 91 44 47 83 41 42 
			 North West London Q04 120 44 76 107 36 71 
			 North Central London Q05 115 62 53 115 69 46 
			 North East London Q06 131 94 37 124 86 38 
			 South East London Q07 218 156 62 257 197 60 
			 South West London Q08 93 36 57 89 37 52 
			 Northumberland, Tyne and Wear Q09 155 77 78 141 74 67 
			 County Durham and Tees Valley Q10 63 17 46 55 21 34 
			 North and East Yorkshire and Northern Lincolnshire Q11 72 24 48 68 23 45 
			 West Yorkshire Q12 189 87 102 162 75 87 
			 Cumbria and Lancashire Q13 102 41 61 98 38 60 
			 Greater Manchester Q14 198 87 111 215 86 129 
			 Cheshire and Merseyside Q15 172 70 102 172 74 98 
			 Thames Valley Q16 92 24 68 86 24 62 
			 Hampshire and Isle of Wight Q17 115 33 82 104 28 76 
			 Kent and Medway Q18 69 22 47 70 26 44 
			 Surrey and Sussex Q19 118 42 76 112 42 70 
			 Avon, Gloucestershire and Wiltshire Q20 173 91 82 176 94 82 
			 South West Peninsula Q21 62 25 37 68 30 38 
			 Dorset and Somerset Q22 55 25 30 51 24 27 
			 South Yorkshire Q23 114 78 36 116 86 30 
			 Trent Q24 86 28 58 91 34 57 
			 Leicestershire, Northamptonshire and Rutland Q25 67 29 38 66 29 37 
			 Shropshire and Staffordshire Q26 66 17 49 63 16 47 
			 Birmingham and The Black Country Q27 216 110 106 204 110 94 
			 West Midlands South Q28 90 33 57 87 34 53 
			 Other(48)  491 490 1 496 495 1 
		
	
	
		
			Number (headcount) 
			   1989 1990 
			Of which:  Of which: 
			   All dental staff Hospital dental staff Community health service dental staff All dental staff Hospital dental staff Community health service dental staff 
		
		
			 England  3,655 2,010 1,645 3,628 2,051 1,577 
			 
			 Of which:
			 Norfolk, Suffolk and Cambridgeshire Q01 113 50 63 111 51 60 
			 Bedfordshire and Hertfordshire Q02 62 20 42 65 20 45 
			 Essex Q03 72 31 41 72 30 42 
			 North West London Q04 118 46 72 128 44 84 
			 North Central London Q05 111 66 45 116 67 49 
			 North East London Q06 118 82 36 118 85 33 
			 South East London Q07 272 216 56 243 189 54 
			 South West London Q08 85 33 52 93 42 51 
			 Northumberland, Tyne and Wear Q09 133 72 61 133 77 56 
			 County Durham and Tees Valley Q10 55 21 34 52 20 32 
			 North and East Yorkshire and Northern Lincolnshire Q11 59 23 36 70 33 37 
			 West Yorkshire Q12 170 66 104 117 45 72 
			 Cumbria and Lancashire Q13 101 36 65 102 38 64 
			 Greater Manchester Q14 200 84 116 204 92 112 
			 Cheshire and Merseyside Q15 156 63 93 154 68 86 
			 Thames Valley Q16 91 31 60 89 30 59 
			 Hampshire and Isle of Wight Q17 129 36 93 120 37 83 
			 Kent and Medway Q18 64 21 43 73 29 44 
			 Surrey and Sussex Q19 114 42 72 112 42 70 
			 Avon, Gloucestershire and Wiltshire Q20 166 90 76 172 90 82 
			 South West Peninsula Q21 69 33 36 66 38 28 
			 Dorset and Somerset Q22 57 31 26 56 33 23 
			 South Yorkshire Q23 128 98 30 127 95 32 
			 Trent Q24 94 33 61 91 31 60 
			 Leicestershire, Northamptonshire and Rutland Q25 67 28 39 63 22 41 
			 Shropshire and Staffordshire Q26 62 17 45 63 21 42 
			 Birmingham and The Black Country Q27 207 112 95 196 108 88 
			 West Midlands South Q28 84 31 53 82 34 48 
			 Other(48)  498 498 0 540 540 0 
		
	
	
		
			Number (headcount) 
			   1991 1992 
			Of which:  Of which: 
			   All dental staff Hospital dental staff Community health service dental staff All dental staff Hospital dental staff Community health service dental staff 
		
		
			 England  3,479 2,010 1,469 3,493 2,076 1,417 
			 
			 Of which:
			 Norfolk, Suffolk and Cambridgeshire Q01 87 44 43 92 50 42 
			 Bedfordshire and Hertfordshire Q02 58 16 42 65 22 43 
			 Essex Q03 80 41 39 77 39 38 
			 North West London Q04 121 43 78 122 44 78 
			 North Central London Q05 91 45 46 80 33 47 
			 North East London Q06 129 91 38 127 93 34 
			 South East London Q07 232 189 43 260 202 58 
			 South West London Q08 95 53 42 87 45 42 
			 Northumberland, Tyne and Wear Q09 133 75 58 130 82 48 
			 County Durham and Tees Valley Q10 51 21 30 56 25 31 
			 North and East Yorkshire and Northern Lincolnshire Q11 79 36 43 76 39 37 
			 West Yorkshire Q12 125 53 72 124 55 69 
			 Cumbria and Lancashire Q13 102 40 62 111 49 62 
			 Greater Manchester Q14 193 101 92 188 101 87 
			 Cheshire and Merseyside Q15 157 75 82 186 92 94 
			 Thames Valley Q16 86 27 59 91 34 57 
			 Hampshire and Isle of Wight Q17 109 45 64 113 52 61 
			 Kent and Medway Q18 65 29 36 56 27 29 
			 Surrey and Sussex Q19 120 42 78 112 54 58 
			 Avon, Gloucestershire and Wiltshire Q20 174 94 80 174 107 67 
			 South West Peninsula Q21 69 42 27 79 51 28 
			 Dorset and Somerset Q22 53 33 20 56 38 18 
			 South Yorkshire Q23 110 80 30 114 82 32 
			 Trent Q24 87 29 58 87 27 60 
			 Leicestershire, Northamptonshire and Rutland Q25 64 22 42 59 20 39 
			 Shropshire and Staffordshire Q26 59 20 39 50 25 25 
			 Birmingham and The Black Country Q27 158 84 74 169 83 86 
			 West Midlands South Q28 75 27 48 74 31 43 
			 Other(48)  517 513 4 478 474 4 
		
	
	
		
			Number (headcount) 
			   1993 1994 
			Of which:  Of which: 
			   All dental staff Hospital dental staff Community health service dental staff All dental staff Hospital dental staff Community health service dental staff 
		
		
			 England  3,462 2,070 1,392 3,372 2,067 1,305 
			 
			 Of which:
			 Norfolk, Suffolk and Cambridgeshire Q01 96 58 38 109 69 40 
			 Bedfordshire and Hertfordshire Q02 69 24 45 66 35 31 
			 Essex Q03 69 37 32 60 32 28 
			 North West London Q04 110 40 70 106 32 74 
			 North Central London Q05 68 31 37 93 50 43 
			 North East London Q06 100 60 40 78 44 34 
			 South East London Q07 263 210 53 233 188 45 
			 South West London Q08 96 55 41 93 53 40 
			 Northumberland, Tyne and Wear Q09 152 106 46 157 115 42 
			 County Durham and Tees Valley Q10 60 30 30 53 34 19 
			 North and East Yorkshire and Northern Lincolnshire Q11 82 47 35 83 50 33 
			 West Yorkshire Q12 135 67 68 142 77 65 
			 Cumbria and Lancashire Q13 110 48 62 112 54 58 
			 Greater Manchester Q14 186 103 83 209 127 82 
			 Cheshire and Merseyside Q15 191 97 94 178 92 86 
			 Thames Valley Q16 90 36 54 88 52 36 
			 Hampshire and Isle of Wight Q17 108 53 55 112 58 54 
			 Kent and Medway Q18 69 39 30 64 26 38 
			 Surrey and Sussex Q19 132 65 67 155 87 68 
			 Avon, Gloucestershire and Wiltshire Q20 153 90 63 185 122 63 
			 South West Peninsula Q21 82 53 29 85 56 29 
			 Dorset and Somerset Q22 60 38 22 49 35 14 
			 South Yorkshire Q23 122 89 33 125 94 31 
			 Trent Q24 87 34 53 105 46 59 
			 Leicestershire, Northamptonshire and Rutland Q25 68 30 38 70 40 30 
			 Shropshire and Staffordshire Q26 81 38 43 63 39 24 
			 Birmingham and The Black Country Q27 186 98 88 183 96 87 
			 West Midlands South Q28 69 29 40 89 44 45 
			 Other(48)  368 365 3 227 220 7 
		
	
	
		
			Number (headcount) 
			   1995 1996 
			Of which:  Of which: 
			   All dental staff Hospital dental staff Community health service dental staff All dental staff Hospital dental staff Community health service dental staff 
		
		
			 England  3,456 2,139 1,317 3,490 2,113 1,377 
			 
			 Of which:
			 Norfolk, Suffolk and Cambridgeshire Q01 112 73 39 108 69 39 
			 Bedfordshire and Hertfordshire Q02 73 35 38 76 37 39 
			 Essex Q03 69 41 28 79 46 33 
			 North West London Q04 106 29 77 111 24 87 
			 North Central London Q05 101 53 48 178 141 37 
			 North East London Q06 81 46 35 106 57 49 
			 South East London Q07 250 211 39 235 198 37 
			 South West London Q08 86 47 39 90 56 34 
			 Northumberland, Tyne and Wear Q09 131 97 34 135 97 38 
			 County Durham and Tees Valley Q10 69 37 32 62 31 31 
			 North and East Yorkshire and Northern Lincolnshire Q11 86 58 28 80 51 29 
			 West Yorkshire Q12 129 73 56 155 93 62 
			 Cumbria and Lancashire Q13 115 55 60 124 61 63 
			 Greater Manchester Q14 215 129 86 232 150 82 
			 Cheshire and Merseyside Q15 187 99 88 206 103 103 
			 Thames Valley Q16 106 55 51 114 59 55 
			 Hampshire and Isle of Wight Q17 102 49 53 112 60 52 
			 Kent and Medway Q18 80 31 49 77 34 43 
			 Surrey and Sussex Q19 151 90 61 148 85 63 
			 Avon, Gloucestershire and Wiltshire Q20 182 119 63 176 114 62 
			 South West Peninsula Q21 99 64 35 104 71 33 
			 Dorset and Somerset Q22 71 55 16 61 45 16 
			 South Yorkshire Q23 105 73 32 123 86 37 
			 Trent Q24 113 56 57 129 65 64 
			 Leicestershire, Northamptonshire and Rutland Q25 74 37 37 76 39 37 
			 Shropshire and Staffordshire Q26 67 41 26 68 45 23 
			 Birmingham and The Black Country Q27 194 132 62 238 153 85 
			 West Midlands South Q28 90 47 43 87 43 44 
			 Other(48)  212 207 5 0 0 0 
		
	
	
		
			 Number (headcount) 
			   1997 
			Of which: 
			   All dental staff Hospital dental staff Community health service dental staff 
		
		
			 England  3,567 2,188 1,379 
			  
			 Of which: 
			 Norfolk, Suffolk and Cambridgeshire Q01 133 81 52 
			 Bedfordshire and Hertfordshire Q02 73 37 36 
			 Essex Q03 79 46 33 
			 North West London Q04 101 23 78 
			 North Central London Q05 186 143 43 
			 North East London Q06 101 53 48 
			 South East London Q07 207 170 37 
			 South West London Q08 92 59 33 
			 Northumberland, Tyne and Wear Q09 133 97 36 
			 County Durham and Tees Valley Q10 85 54 31 
			 North and East Yorkshire and Northern Lincolnshire Q11 88 58 30 
			 West Yorkshire Q12 173 108 65 
			 Cumbria and Lancashire Q13 120 56 64 
			 Greater Manchester Q14 235 152 83 
			 Cheshire and Merseyside Q15 209 114 95 
			 Thames Valley Q16 120 58 62 
			 Hampshire and Isle of Wight Q17 110 60 50 
			 Kent and Medway Q18 71 30 41 
			 Surrey and Sussex Q19 162 97 65 
			 Avon, Gloucestershire and Wiltshire Q20 177 110 67 
			 South West Peninsula Q21 112 73 39 
			 Dorset and Somerset Q22 66 52 14 
			 South Yorkshire Q23 125 90 35 
			 Trent Q24 133 70 63 
			 Leicestershire, Northamptonshire and Rutland Q25 82 46 36 
			 Shropshire and Staffordshire Q26 67 45 22 
			 Birmingham and The Black Country Q27 241 167 74 
			 West Midlands South Q28 85 38 47 
			 Other(48)  1 1 0 
		
	
	(48) Other includes regional health authorities, special health authorities and special hospitals. Most regional health authority and special health authority organisations existed prior to the creation of the SHA boundaries and therefore cannot be mapped into a specific SHA. Special hospitals are national centres (e.g. National Blood Authority) and therefore cannot be mapped to a specific SHA.
	Source:
	NHS Health and Social Care Information Centre Medical and Dental Workforce Census.

Dentistry

Barry Sheerman: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many NHS dentists there are in (a) England, (b) West Yorkshire and (c) Huddersfield.

Rosie Winterton: The information requested is shown in the table.
	
		Number of dentists in England, West Yorkshire strategic health authority (SHA) and Huddersfield parliamentary constituency as of 30 September 2005
		
			  
		
		
			 England 20,890 
			 West Yorkshire SHA 836 
			 Huddersfield Constituency 53 
		
	
	Notes:
	1. Data includes all notifications of dentists joining or leaving the general dental service or personal dental service, received by the Dental Practice Board, up to 2 November 2005 for England data, and 19 October 2005 for SHA and constituency data.
	2. The definition of dentists includes principals, assistants and trainees. Prison contracts have been excluded from the data.
	Source:
	Dental Practice Board

Dentistry

Graham Stuart: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what measures she is taking to ensure adequate provision of NHS dentistry in Beverley and Holderness.

Rosie Winterton: In 2004–05, the Department allocated £1.3 million to the North and East Yorkshire and Northern Lincolnshire strategic health authority (SHA) to improve access, choice and quality in national health service dentistry. In 2004–05, the East Yorkshire primary care trust (PCT) and the Yorkshire Wolds and Coast PCT, received £147,000 and £160,000 respectively.
	The SHA advises that these funds were used to assist the development of new dental practices at Bridlington, Driffield, Pocklington and Beverley together with expansion of existing practices at Brough and South Cave. The new practices will allow 17,500 new national health service patient registrations and 2,000 additional NHS patients to access NHS care at the expanded practices.
	In addition, a new practice is due to open in early February at Beverley, providing care for 3,000 NHS patients, under a personal dental service (PDS) contract.
	There are access centres at Bridlington, Pocklington, Driffield, Goole, Cottingham, Withernsea and also at Hull. The access service provides care for over 40,000 patients annually.
	Two Polish dentists have been recruited through the Department's overseas recruitment programme and are now working within a practice in the Yorkshire Wolds and Coast PCT area.
	Both PCTs have been working with dental practices to support them in moving over to the new PDS contract. The number of dental practices which have converted to PDS within each of the PCTs is as follows:
	East Yorkshire PCT: six practices, 15 whole-time equivalent (wte) practitioners, 40,602 patients,
	Yorkshire Wolds and Coast PCT: eight practices, 14 wte practitioners, 43,219 patients.

European Working Time Directive

Greg Hands: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many staff have been recruited by (a) Hammersmith and Fulham NHS trust and (b) Hammersmith hospitals NHS trust as a result of the European working time directive.

Jane Kennedy: This information is not held centrally.
	Implementation of the working time directive (WTD) is the responsibility of local national health service trusts and strategic health authorities were required to draw up affordable plans to meet WTD 2004.
	The Government agreed to implement the European working time directive as United Kingdom legislation to improve the health and safety and working lives of all employees in this country. The vast majority of staff groups have been covered by the 48-hour week since 1998. The Government negotiated an extension to the WTD for doctors in training to enable phased implementation from August 2004.

Gentamicin-resistant Staphylococcus Aureus

Andrew Lansley: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what steps she is taking to control gentamicin-resistant staphylococcus aureus.

Jane Kennedy: Minimising the development and spread of strains such as gentamicin resistant "staphylococcus aureus" requires prudent prescribing of antibiotics as well as strict adherence to infection control measures. This is why prudent prescribing is part of our programme to tackle healthcare associated infections. To support this we have provided £12 million over three years for hospital clinical pharmacists.

Health Bill

David Amess: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what recent evaluation her Department has undertaken of public opinion on Part I of the Health Bill; and if she will make a statement.

Caroline Flint: The most recent data on public attitudes to smoking restrictions is available in the Office for National Statistics publication "Smoking Related Behaviour and Attitudes 2004," which surveyed opinion on restrictions on smoking in certain places.
	
		
			 Smoking should be restricted in certain places (Table 6.13) Percentage agreeing 
		
		
			 at work 88 
			 in restaurants 91 
			 in pubs 65 
			 in indoor shopping centres 87 
			 in indoor sports and leisure centres 93 
			 in indoor areas in railway/bus stations 82 
			 in other public places 93 
		
	
	Suggested restrictions on smoking in pubs 2003–04.
	
		
			 In pubs, would prefer (Table 6.21) Percentage agreeing 
		
		
			 no smoking allowed anywhere 31 
			 mainly non-smoking with smoking areas 47 
			 mainly smoking with non-smoking areas 16 
			 smoking allowed throughout 5 
			 don't go to pubs/don't know 2 
		
	
	Part I of the Health Bill recognises these differences in public opinion between general work places, public places and places where meals are consumed, and the different attitude towards pubs.

Hepatitis C

Brian Iddon: To ask the Secretary of State for Health 
	(1)  how many hospitals offer treatment for hepatitis C;
	(2)  which primary care trusts do not have a hospital in their area which offers treatment for hepatitis C.

Caroline Flint: This information is not available centrally. In line with "Shifting the Balance of Power", decisions about the provision of local services, including for hepatitis C are made by local national health service organisations.
	Information at NHS trust level about finished consultant episodes with hepatitis C recorded as a primary diagnosis is usually available. However, this information cannot currently be provided due to disruption to the hospital episodes statistics service following the recent fire at the fuel storage depot in Hemel Hempstead.

Hepatitis C

Andrew Lansley: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what assessment she has made of the effectiveness of the FaCe It campaign on hepatitis C; what the total expenditure on the campaign has been since it was introduced; when funding for the FaCe It campaign will cease; and what steps she intends to take to heighten awareness of hepatitis C following the end of the FaCe It campaign.

Caroline Flint: Qualitative research of hepatitis C awareness among general practitioners and practice nurses has been carried out this year. This research, which repeats a baseline study carried out in 2001, indicates that awareness of hepatitis C is much improved compared to 2001 and that hepatitis C testing is being offered to those known to be at risk.
	The Health Protection Agency has been monitoring the number of reported laboratory diagnoses of hepatitis C, which is a national outcome indicator for implementation of the "Hepatitis C Action Plan for England". There has been a noticeable upward trend in hepatitis C diagnoses since 2000 from just under 5,000 reports to around 8,000 in 2004. Injecting drug users are the group currently at greatest risk of hepatitis C infection in this country. The unlinked anonymous prevalence monitoring programme's survey of injecting drug users in contact with specialist services1 showed that 67 per cent. had had a voluntary confidential test for hepatitis C in 2004 compared to 49 per cent. in 2000.
	There has also been qualitative research this year into format and design of the hepatitis C "Face Your Past" leaflet, which is being widely distributed as the hepatitis C awareness photography exhibition tours regional cities. This research suggested that the design, content and tone were effective at gaining attention and giving a clear message without causing panic.
	Research into public awareness of hepatitis C will be carried out in 2006. This will repeat a survey of awareness among the general public and groups at increased risk of infection in 2003.
	Total expenditure on the "FaCe It" campaign to date has been £1.55 million. We will review the position on the future of the campaign at the end of the current financial year.
	Note:
	For example, needle exchanges or treatment programmes, such as methadone maintenance.

Mental Health Services

Paul Burstow: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how much was spent on psychological therapies in the NHS in 2004–05.

Rosie Winterton: "The 2004–05 National Survey of Investment in Mental Health Services" reported that in 2004–05, planned spend on psychological therapy services was £141,378,000.

Palliative Care

Geraldine Smith: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what plans she has to increase funding for palliative care services; and if she will make a statement.

Rosie Winterton: In our Manifesto, we said we would increase the choice for patients with cancer and double the investment going into palliative care services, giving more people the choice to be treated at home. We have extended this commitment to improve end of life care for children and adults who are suffering from cancer or any life-threatening condition.
	The details of delivering our manifesto commitment are being discussed with a range of key stakeholders. Along side this, the views of the public, service users and national health service staff on end of life care was one of the issues covered in the "Your Health, Your Care, Your Say" consultation. We will take account of what people have said in this consultation in the way we discharge our manifesto commitment.

Patient Choice

Lynne Jones: To ask the Secretary of State for Health pursuant to the answer of 21 November 2005, Official Report, columns 1725–26W, on patient choice, what communications have been sent to (a) primary care trusts and (b) strategic health authorities to convey Government policy since Sir Nigel Crisp's letter of 28 July on Commissioning a Patient-led NHS.

Liam Byrne: There have been two written communications issued to strategic health authority (SHA) chief executives since the publication of Sir Nigel Crisp's letter on 28 July 2005, and we have also provided SHAs with a consultation guidance document. A letter was issued on 26 August 2005, which stated that:
	"We expect discussions on provider functions to follow the restructuring discussion, be led by the new PCTs and to take into account any conclusions from the upcoming White Paper. Any proposals would then require a further specific consultation."
	A further letter was issued on 30 November 2005, which stated that:
	"The consultation must cover the reconfiguration of organisational boundaries only. Discussions or decision about provider functions are not a matter for this consultation".
	Enclosed with this letter was a consultation guidance document, which stated:
	"In our proposals sent out on 28 July we indicated that we were minded to require PCTs to reduce their service provision functions by the end of 2008. Since that document, we have listened to stakeholders. The policy moving forward, in relation to service provision, is that this will be a matter for PCTs to determine locally. So any move away from direct provision of services will be a decision for the local NHS within the framework set out in the forthcoming White Paper and after local consultation, including professions allied to medicine.
	We will support PCTs who want to do that, but we will not instruct PCTs to do it, nor will we impose any timetable. What matters is getting the best services for each community—and that is what the White Paper will focus on."

Prescription Charges

Andrew Lansley: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what guidance she has issued on whether patients in hospital should pay prescription charges for their medication.

Jane Kennedy: Guidance revised and issued in October 2003 entitled, "The Controls Assurance Standards" included a reminder to trusts that arrangements should be in place for the collection of prescription charges as specified by the National Health Service (Charges for drugs and appliances) Regulations 2000.
	Regulation 5 (1) says an NHS trust, and NHS foundation trust or a primary care trust which supplies to a patient for the purposes of his treatment, drugs, otherwise than for administration at a hospital, or appliances, shall, subject to limited exemptions make and recover from the patient a charge of £6.50.
	The information leaflet HC11, "Help with Health Costs", which is freely available to patients and NHS staff, sets out when and where prescription charges should be made.

Psychiatrist/Psychologist Waiting Times

Lindsay Hoyle: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what the (a) average and (b) target waiting time was to see a (i) psychiatrist and (ii) psychologist for (A) adults and (B) children in Chorley in each of the last five years.

Liam Byrne: The information requested is shown in the table.
	
		Estimated average waiting time from GP written referral to first out-patient appointment, September 2001to September 2005, provider based
		
			 Effective length of wait from receipt of GP written referral request to first out-patient attendance (weeks) 
			 Sum of seven Trusts merged to form Lancashire Care NHS Trust 
			 Quarter 0 to <4 4 to <13 13 to <26 26 plus Median wait 
		
		
			 September 2001 477 432 78 11 4.5 
		
	
	
		Effective length of wait from receipt of GP written referral request to first out-patient attendance (weeks)
		
			 Lancashire Care NHS Trust   
			 Quarter September: 0 to <4 4 to <13 13 to <17 17 to <21 21 plus Median wait 
		
		
			 2002 480 332 39 5 5 3.6 
			 2003 470 289 28 19 0 3.4 
			 2004 419 232 25 0 0 3.2 
			 2005 299 156 0 0 0 3.1 
			 East Lancashire Hospitals NHS Trust 
			 2001 n/a n/a n/a n/a n/a n/a 
			 2002 n/a n/a n/a n/a n/a n/a 
			 2003 41 20 6 2 0 3.4 
			 2004 12 15 24 0 0 12.4 
			 2005 13 9 1 1 0 3.8 
		
	
	n/a = not applicable
	Notes:
	Lancashire Care NHS Trust was formed in an April 2002 merger of the following organisations:
	RMB—Blackburn, Hyndburn and Ribble Valley Healthcare NHS Trust (MH services)
	RML—Blackpool, Wyre and Fyde Community Health NHS trust (MH services)
	REU—Burnley Health Care NHS Trust (mental health services)
	RJU—Chorley and South Ribble NHS Trust (mental health services)
	RME—Communicare NHS Trust (psychology and drugs services)
	RMG—Guild Community Healthcare NHS Trust
	RVT—North Sefton and West Lancashire Community NHS Trust
	Data for specialties:
	710—Mental Illness
	711—Child & Adolescent Psychiatry
	712—Forensic Psychiatry
	713—Psychotherapy
	715—Old Age Psychiatry
	1. Due to small numbers, the calculation of the median wait is prone to fluctuation at PCT and SNA level. Care should be taken when interpreting these figures.
	2. Waiting times apply to Consultant-led appointments only. Services in many areas are now run by multidisciplinary teams.
	Source:
	Department of Health form QM08

Terminally Ill Patients

Si�n James: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what guidance her Department has issued to NHS hospitals on the provision of support to terminally ill patients without next of kin at the time of death.

Rosie Winterton: No guidance has been issued to national health service hospitals on the provision of support specifically for terminally ill patients without next of kin at the time of death. However, the National Institute for Health and Clinical Excellence's guidance on supportive and palliative care, issued in 2004, provides recommendations for the provision of optimal care for those who are dying. This guidance also endorses several tools to support the provision of high quality and responsive care for people at the end of life. These tools: the gold standards framework, the Liverpool care pathway, and the preferred place of care, are being rolled out nationally as part of the Government's end of life care programme, which is running for three years from 2004 to 2007.
	The Department also issued advice for the NHS, When a Patient Dies, which sets out the principles and key elements of good bereavement services. This includes advice that all those involved in the death of a patient should work in partnership to ensure a coordinated response that meets individual needs.

Waiting Times

Steve Webb: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how she will measure performance of the 18-week waiting time target for courses of treatment involving multiple organisations.

Liam Byrne: The Department is currently collating the responses of a service-wide listening exercise on proposed principles and definitions to underpin the 18-week patient pathway commitment. The discussion document Commissioning an 18 week patient pathway proposed principles and definitions is available at www.18weeks.nhs.uk/documents/Principles_definitions.pdf and has been placed in the Library. Paragraphs 57 to 59 of this document address patient pathways, which involve multiple organisations. Paragraph 77 refers to the need for commissioners to manage the hand-offs between organisations. The outcome of the listening exercise and the final principles and definitions will be published in 2006.

Child Support

Paul Goodman: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what bonuses were paid to staff managing the EDS contract at the Child Support Agency in each of the last four years; and what bonuses related to performance were paid to these staff in each of the last four years.

James Plaskitt: The administration of the Child Support Agency is a matter for the chief executive, who will write to the hon. Member with the information requested.
	Letter from Stephen Geraghty, dated 10 January 2006
	In reply to your recent parliamentary question about the Child Support Agency, the Secretary of State promised a substantive reply from the Chief Executive.
	You asked the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what bonuses were paid to staff managing the EDS contract at the Child Support Agency in each of the last four years; and what bonuses related to performance were paid to these staff in each of the last four years?
	All staff in the Department of Work and Pensions qualify for performance-related pay. The performance-related pay arrangements operate on a sliding scale with over 90% of staff receiving a payment at the end of the performance year. In addition the Department operates a special bonus scheme, which rewards staff for exceptional achievements outside the requirements of their key work objectives.
	Set out in the table below are the special bonus payments relating to staff involved in managing the EDS Contract. These staff also perform other functions in addition to that role.
	These payments arose from when the new Child Support Computer System went live in March 2003.
	
		
			   
			 Financial year Amount of payment 
		
		
			 200304 1,600.00 
			 200405 0 
			 200506(53) 500.00 
			 Total 2,100.00 
		
	
	(53) To date.
	I hope this information is helpful.